Weekly Notes
April 20-24, 2015
Focus of the Week: Patience
Maurus @ RESA- Brundage in office
Tuesday 4/21
Earth Day Parade (see Monica's email and detailed plans below)
Staff Meeting @ 4PM- Data Analysis at buildings
Wednesday 4/22
Skowronski's class field trip (Maurus will attend)
3rd Grade math alignment with Hilty- PM
Thursday 4/23
Robert (Paulisin) Principal of the Day!
2nd grade math alignment with Hilty
Friday 4/24
4th grade math alignment with Hilty
Leadership Lunch
Movie Night @ 6PM
Upcoming Dates
5/1- PBIS Assembly @ 11
Last Popcorn Day!
5/5- Election Day (Due to MStep, voting will be in the gym)
June 5th- DRA scores in for students in red or yellow!
MStep Testing Windows:
5th Grade: Week of 4/13 through week of 4/27
4th Grade: Week of 4/27 through week of 5/11
3rd Grade: Week of 5/18 through week of 6/1
Welcome to the world, Benjamin David Skowronski!!! 4/18/15 7lbs 12 oz
Housekeeping
Thank you, Kay, for volunteering to administer MStep!
Thank you to those of you who had fifth grade students with you during the week due to MStep testing!
Planting the Seed
An ancient seed was found a few years back in the ruins of Masada in present-day Israel. Before planting the seed, scientists used radiocarbon dating to confirm that the seed was 2000 years old. Soon after, scientists decided to see what would happen when the seed was finally planted and watered. 2003 years after the seed came into existence, it grew into a four foot tall palm seedling.
It is frustrating when we work our tails off and don't see much come to fruition, especially at the end of the year when we have been working so hard for some kids who continue to struggle. This has been something that has been tough for me at times in the years that I have been an educator, and is something that I have heard quite a few of you say lately as we have gone through another round of data meetings, intervention meetings, etc, etc, etc... Because of this, I wanted to share something that happened the Friday we left for break.
As I was going to my car to pack up, a former student of ours, who is now in seventh grade, called over to me to say hi. I put down my bags and walked over to talk to him to find out that he was headed to a friend's house for a sleepover. He told me all about how he was doing in Pierce and talked excitedly about his report card and specific subjects that he was particularly enjoying this year.
This student wasn't a student who was at the top of the class, or a student with severe behavior issues, but this student was one that we worked hard for. It felt great to see him happy and talking positively about school.
I couldn't stop smiling on my way home- what a great tribute to the hard work we put in at Jefferson!
From time to time, we find ourselves thinking about some of our kids, the countless hours we put in, and wonder if any of those seeds we so gruelingly planted ever sprouted. Sometimes they sprout and take root rather quickly, but sometimes those seeds are like a seed from Masada and don't sprout until the "just right" conditions appear- even 2003 years later!
I am hoping that the seeds we plant here at Jefferson don't take 2003 years to sprout (Oy! Just think of all that progress monitoring), but I want you guys to keep up the hard work! Those seeds are important to plant!
Earth Day
2:50- Fifth Grade
2:55- Fourth Grade
3:00- Third Grade
3:05- K, 1st, 2nd
Please leave at your designated time- please don't wait for me to tell you to go- I will be outside in the parade.
Please make sure to remind your kids to stay on the sidewalk and be good representatives of our school.
Behavior
Last Week's Trends
Out of School Suspensions: 1 Send Home- physical/verbal aggression
In-School Suspensions: 0
Students at Lunch With Pam: 6
Hot Spots: No major hot spots sticking out this past week.
Tier 2 Behavior Example: Social Stories
Why should I do it:
- Helps teach students routines, expectations, and behavioral standards in an alternative way
- Reinforces correct behavior
- Information presented in a story format
- Provides visual examples of behavior expectations
- Provides a more personalized and tailored behavioral intervention
- Helps involve students in the learning process
- Works well with students on the autism spectrum and those with ADD/ADHD
When should I do it:
- When a student fails to grasp social norms, routines, and expectations, like walking down the hall, using restroom facilities, following lunch procedure, using manners, using greetings, asking for help properly, etc
- When a student is on the autism spectrum or has ADD/ADHD
- When a student is disorganized, unprepared, disheveled
- When a student needs reinforcement of class rules, routines, procedures, etc
- When a student lacks social skills
- When a student does not respond to cues, redirection, refocusing, etc
- When a student fails to complete work, homework, expectations, etc
How do I do it:
- You can either look for a pre-made social story in the resources below or create your own using the resources below or you can take one from the resources and adapt it to your needs
- Ask your Resource Room teacher for assistance if you need help creating a social story or getting it started
- Basic steps to creating a social story:
- Create a list or outline of the steps in the routine or procedure the student needs work or reinforcement on, like behavior in the hall, using the bathroom, starting work, asking for help, etc
- For each step of the process, develop a simple sentence to explain the step, for example “open your desk and get your book out”, or “walk to the door and knock”, etc
- Next to each step and sentence, utilize a picture to represent the action, either a generic image or graphic, or an actual picture of the student performing that step
- When the social story is complete, review it with the student daily before they perform that routine, procedure, or activity
- After the student learns the social story well, have them review it on their own before they perform that routine, procedure, or activity
- You may slowly wean the student off the social story as they consistently perform the task correctly
Classroom Management: Keeping Track of Missing Student Work
PBIS March Data- Woah!!!
Total ODRs by Month
Total ODRs by Location
Classroom- 45 incidents